Just a Bruise
by whitetiger91
Summary: It was just a bruise... wasn't it? Poor Bellatrix, how was she supposed to know that a small accident would send Narcissa to St Mungos? She hadn't meant to hurt her, not really. Features 11-year-old Bellatrix.


**Just a Bruise**

 _It was just a bruise… It was just a bruise… It was just a bruise…_

Bellatrix paced up and down the hallway, ignoring the stares of the other visitors. It had been over half an hour since they had taken Narcissa into the room, the Mediwitch speaking gibberish she could not understand. What was a humerus, or a fracture for that matter? She certainly didn't find anything funny about what had happened to Narcissa and had glared at the Mediwitch.

 _What was taking so long? Were they so incompetent they could not fix her? They could fix her, couldn't they? It was just a bruise…_

Huffing, Bellatrix sat on the floor, not bothering to make sure her good robes didn't get dirty. The corridor floor, which smelled strongly of lemon, was clean enough anyway, and it wasn't as though she would dare sit on the plastic bench provided for visitors. An elderly wizard was sitting on it and had obviously not ever been taught the manners a proper Pureblood should know. All evening he had stared down his bulbous nose at her whenever she made a noise, and now, he seemed to take offence that she had huffed.

Locking her dark eyes onto his, she folded her arms against her chest. Taking a deep breath, she huffed again, this time louder. The man wrinkled his nose, and she poked her tongue out him, a smirk forming on her lips when he turned away.

The smirk faded, however, when the door to Narcissa's room opened and her mother stepped out. It wasn't the way her lips were pursed or way her eyes were narrowed—they always were—that had Bellatrix worried. It was that her eyes were narrowed specifically at her. She gulped, getting up off the floor.

"Is Cissy going to be alright?" she asked, trying to peer behind her mother into the room.

Her mother closed the door and moved in front of it, blocking her view.

"Bellatrix, look at me," her mother said. Bellatrix continued trying to peek through the small square window on the door, causing the woman to clear her voice. In an icier tone usually reserved for when Bellatrix or her sisters were in serious trouble, she repeated, "Look at me."

Bellatrix cringed and slowly looked up at her mother's steely eyes. "Yes?"

"I need you to tell me exactly what happened this evening, and no lies," she said.

There seemed to be no way out of it. Her mother could sense a lie better than her father could. Still, the risk of a beating for what she _had_ done wasn't really worth it. _It was just a bruise…_

"I told you, we were playing a game and she tripped. That's what happened," she said. She tried to keep eye contact yet found her mother's gaze too intense and looked at her shoes.

"Do not take that tone with me, Bellatrix Lyra Black," her mother said and Bellatrix cringed again, this time at the use of her full name. "Your sister is in there crying because her arm is broken. She won't tell me what happened other than mumbling something about you and a doll, but I certainly know she didn't just trip over. I'm a little surprised that you are showing such apathy."

Bellatrix continued to stare at her shoes, her stomach churning. She didn't know what "pethy" meant, but she did know she really had hoped it was just a bruise. After all, Narcissa had been able to get back up and had only teared up when she touched her arm. She hadn't meant for her sister to break her arm or get hurt—not really.

"The Healers need to know what happened, Bellatrix, otherwise they won't be able to heal it properly," her mother said.

She looked up at the woman, her eyes wide. "Can't they just use a potion? I saw them use one on Andy's ankle."

Her mother crossed her arms over her chest and raised an eyebrow. "They won't be able to use it if they don't know what really happened."

Bellatrix opened her mouth to repeat her story, but her mother sighed.

"They say Narcissa might never be able to use a wand when she's older," she continued.

Her stomach churned again and she began to feel sick. Narcissa might not be able to use her wand again? She thought back to the week before when she had picked up her own wand. She had felt so powerful _finally_ not having to rely on trying to borrow Andromeda's wand from her room when her older sister was playing outside. Better yet, she had felt some sort of importance that it would now be Narcissa trying to borrow her wand. It was a big thing in her life, and as annoying as Narcissa was sometimes, she didn't want her sister to have to miss out on the same feeling of power.

If that wasn't bad enough, another, more horrible thought struck her. If Narcissa couldn't use a wand, would she turn into a Squib?

 _No, Narcissa couldn't be a Squib… It was just a broken arm…_

Bellatrix gasped and covered her mouth, shaking her head at her mother. She couldn't be related to a Squib; that would be worse than whatever punishment her mother gave her.

Closing her eyes, she decided to get the truth out quickly. "Narcissawasgloatingthatshehadmyolddollandshewouldn'tleavemealonesoIcouldlookatwhatwasinside—"

"Bellatrix! How many times have I had to teach you to speak clearly? Now, take a deep breath and enunciate your words."

Bellatrix scrunched her nose up at her mother's interruption, not sure if she was more annoyed that she had just about gotten the truth or that her mother expected her to know what "nunsate" meant.

Nevertheless, she did as she was told and took a breath. She found herself unable to look at her mother again and focused on a spot on the wall just behind her.

"I was in Andy's room—er, trying to tidy it for her—and Narcissa wouldn't leave me alone. She kept telling me she wanted me to play with her stupid doll and when I wouldn't she said I was jealous. She, er, she called me names and wouldn't leave me alone." She peeked up at her mother, only to see her still frowning. Swallowing, she focused back on the wall, reminding herself that telling the truth—or at least as close as possible. "She kept following me around the house bragging about how she now had the doll. So I tried to grab it off her very gently and she fell down the staircase when she wouldn't let go."

Really, Bellatrix had tried to rip the doll out of Narcissa's hand, giving her a little push to make her let go. She hadn't expected that Narcissa would fall back down the stairs—only a few of them, not the whole flight—and land on her arm. She had appeared alright when Bellatrix had run down to her, more so angry that she no longer was holding her precious doll. She had even ordered their house-elf to get Narcissa ice-cream so she wouldn't dob on her when their parents and Andromeda got home, able to play not long after.

It was only that her mother had tried to make Narcissa have a bath and touched her arm that they suddenly rushed to the fireplace and Floo'd straight to St Mungos.

"I see," her mother finally said after a moment of silence.

Bellatrix dared to look at her again, sure her mother would be angry. Her lips were pursed once more.

"I didn't mean to, honestly," Bellatrix added. "It was an accident."

Her mother raised a thin eyebrow. "For some reason, I highly doubt that," she said.

She opened her mouth to protest, but one glance at the way her mother's eyes flashed had her closing her lips again. Thankfully, the door to Narcissa's room opened and a Medi-witch poked her head out.

"Madame Black?"

Her mother turned to the witch and nodded.

The Medi-witch gave a small smile and stepped out of the room. "Your daughter looks set to make a full recovery. She may have to stay overnight, but her arm will be good a new within a day or so."

"So she can still do magic?" Bellatrix said, her heart lifting.

The Medi-witch turned to her and her smile grew. "Of course she can; broken arms don't affect it," she said, giving a small chuckle. When she turned back to her mother, however, she stopped and gave a quick nod. "I'd best be off. Have a good evening, Madame Black," she said, closing the room's door and scurrying down the corridor.

Bellatrix watched the Medi-witch leave, her own lips turning up into a grin. It wasn't just a bruise, but that didn't matter. Narcissa would be able to perform magic, and a broken arm wouldn't—couldn't—take that away.

 _It was just a broken arm, and now it was healed. She wasn't a Squib…_

Her smile turned into a frown as she turned back to her mother, the same thought still at the front of her mind. "I thought you said Narcissa wouldn't be able to do magic if I didn't tell the truth?" she said.

Her mother gripped the steel door handle, the barest hint of a smirk on her face. "We shall discuss your punishment in the morning," she said and stepped inside the room.

Bellatrix pouted. It was so typical; she had told the truth and everything had turned out alright in the end, but she was still the one to get into trouble. Vowing to hide Narcissa's doll when she got home for all the trouble she had caused, she followed her mother inside to check on her sister.

 _It was just a broken arm._

* * *

 _ **A/N: This fic was written for Camp Potter run by Cheeky Slytherin Lass on the HPFC forum.**_

 _ **Activity: First Aid Week 3: Write an angst fic using the following mandatory prompts:**_ _ **1\. Bruise 2. No way out 3. Apathetic**_

 _ **Word count: 1628 words (excluding A/N)**_

 _ **Cabin: Malfoy**_

 _ **I hope this counts as an angst fic, as I'm afraid it's the only story that came to mind and my best attempt was therefore making Bellatrix sort of worry about what had happened (in her own self-absorbed way). I also struggled a little trying to make Bellatrix sound young (and FYI she's around 11 in this…), but hopefully it mostly makes sense. I plan to get this beta'd ASAP.**_

 _ **Erm, in case you were wondering, humerus is the medical term for the bone connecting the elbow to the shoulder and I'm not sure how well I communicated that as Bellatrix thinking the nurse thought the situation was humorous... I used what I know of people breaking their bones/ fracturing them for this story (that is, sometimes people can break their bone but not even realise it, often mistaking a fracture for a sprain or heavy bruising and vise versa), as well as a very altered version of what happened to my mother and one of her sisters.**_

 _ **Nevertheless, I hope the story was somewhat enjoyable and wish everyone a fantastic (and sibling safe) week!**_


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